I may or may not have had to tell a white lie about whether this particular album would make it in time for Christmas. Hope you loved the little surprise Logan Picture the opening image as a wrap around cover because that’s how it is. I just forgot to take pictures of the album before I kissed it goodbye.

I’m thrilled to share with you Ashlee + Todd’s Real Wedding feature in the latest issue of Utah Bride & Groom Magazine. This is one of my all time favorite weddings, as you’ll see below (it’s one of my new sample albums for 2012). What I loved most about this wedding wasn’t just that it could be in a magazine, but that the people behind the story are so genuinely kind I can’t say enough good things about working with this family. They made me feel like a life long friend. And THAT is why I love my job!

Now that you’ve seen the images UTBG chose to feature, I thought you’d like my take on the wedding. Ashlee’s parents surprised her with a copy of this album for Christmas. Can you say best present ever?!?

I’m thrilled to annouce the launch of my new 2012 wedding website. As usual, it’s full of pretty pictures…but this year, I really wanted the website to go beyond a portfolio, into something that will better serve my future brides as they make the all important decision of their wedding photographer! SO, as you’ll be reminded of on the website, make sure you don’t forget to read the words too. Wedding photography is about more than just the pictures.

Some of my past brides chipped in, participating in a little survey/interview about their experience and thoughts on working with me. It’s one thing to see the pictures a photographer has taken, but I think it’s even better to hear what it’s actually like, from a bride’s perspective, to make those pictures. And I know brides get more advice than they can possibly remember, but I really wanted to share the advice I always find on the tip of my tongue when it comes to getting married. So you’ll find my personal words of wisdom under the Advice tab. I’ve also included a fun little section called Kind Words, where I share some of my all time favorite blog comments. Maybe you were the author of one!

Their is, of course, also a section on my 2012 wedding collection pricing. However, I’ve opted to title it “Investment” because as you’ll hear from my brides, that’s what it truly is. Finding the right wedding photographer should be SO much more than price shopping. Yes, budgets are a reality. But creative budgeting IS possible if you know your priorities as a bride & couple, and invest accordingly.

New for this year, all of my wedding collections now include an album, not just a credit. I’ll be introducing two new lines of albums in December/January: Keepsake & Heiloom albums. The keepsake albums are perfect for the DIY bride, who wants a high quality product, but would rather invest some of her own time and resources to keep costs down. The heirloom albums are my pride and joy, and a little piece of me will go into each one. These albums are stress free, and require little from the bride, other than someone to cherish them forever. You’ll no longer have to worry about what images go into them, or how many pages you’ll need. My brides will simply choose the style and cover leathers they’d like, and then presto, a gorgeous, timeless piece of art will be there’s to have and to hold for many generations to come.

As soon as my 2012 album samples arrive & I’m able to properly photograph them, I’ll be adding an additional section on the website to showcase these beautiful pieces of art! It will also include some of my favorite album designs to give you a taste of the insides as well.

Finally, I’m happy to annouce that this year’s website should be more accessible than ever. The entire website is in html format, so no flash player is required. I’ve also added a condensed, mobile version of my website for those accessing it on an iphone/ipod. So even when you’re on the go, I hope you’ll take the time to share my work and your beautiful pictures with friends and strangers you meet

So what are you waiting for. Go check it out NOW! …Or sometime this weekend when you’re feeling rather full and just need to “rest”. This is the perfect after dinner Thanksgiving Day activity. Just add your own tunes and press play

Once upon about a month ago I had this brillant idea. Or so I thought. I go all sorts of excited and went full steam ahead. And then we could never find a date to shoot it. And so we waited. And Ella & I lost interest. Or at least the freshness of the idea lost it’s zeal. And so the idea still felt good, but not brillant. Then it morphed a bit. And I love it for many reasons, the least of which being that it was much more suited to Ella’s patience and attention level. SO here it is.

Ella LOVES the world of weddings. She is so interested in everything I do with my job and everything about my brides, including their middle names. I thought it would be fun to capture that interested while it still exists for her photoshoot this year. So I thought, perfect, I’ll plan a wedding for Ella and she can get married. Of course she already did this in her play each day. But wouldn’t it be cute to capture it on film so to speak. And I needed a birthday party idea…so hey, let’s shoot her wedding the day of her party. Guests arrive bringing gifts, there’s cake to eat. BAM, it’s a reception! Isn’t that a cute idea? Ya. And then on top of it being the bash of the year, I’ll get amazing shots throughout the day, assemble a killer album and, BAM, win some awesome award at WPPI for brillantly shooting a 3-year-olds wedding. SO I let the idea get a bit too big, too impossible. Because seriously, when was the last time Ella really did what I wanted for longer than 3 seconds when I’m behind the lens. Never.

But for a while we entertained the idea. We bought a dress, a cake, made a bouquet, got her build-a-bear a tux, even found the perfect pair of heels and a veil at the DI. Even planned to lineup a 6-foot Salt Lake Temple replica that adorned someone’s parade float. She was SUPER excited. And so was I. But then we waited. And waited. And I had to let her open her cake early as a bride during our one shot family session and she’d already been playing with the bouquet plus wearing the shoes… Ya. I spoiled my plan. But the real kicker was when Ella refused to let Hazey have her moment as an angel and demanded to play along too. And then she was adorable for me. And I LOVED the pictures of her too. And suddenly I had an entire album worth of Ella & Hazey. Grrrr. I wanted to do a wedding album…

So finally we found a date. The morning of I decide to make the shoot more about the video than the images I’d capture. More about my relationship with Ella than her relationship with Rex Magee (aka Mr. Build-a-Bear). And Jenny was there all along supporting me, in the end bringing my final call to life. And I’m so so glad.

I love everything the video captured that a still never can: her silly version of “I love to see the temple”, flipping outwhen we don’t help her pick up her cake (though note she did ask nicely originally , and the way she sounds when she walks around in those high heels. Video perfect. Add in an amazing soundtrack. = TRUE LOVE. Ella + Rex. And a short little album too (plus a look at the final product in person, featuring a custom CD case from WHCC).

Want a video of your kid, your life, your family, or just you?? Tune in soon for details about a Jenfolio Giveaway and score one of your very own!

p.s. This wraps up my week of family. I know it’s only Thursday, but it IS a holiday weekend and a rather awesome one at that. So go out and celebrate!! I’ll be back next week with some gold ole’ American lovin’ in the gorgeous scape of Southern Utah, yes Shelbe & Mark, that means you!!

So happy to share with you the album I made of my girls this year. I printed it at Kiss Wedding Books. It’s a 12×12 linen kiss. LOVE! The last page features the above image of Hazey almost lifesize and I so want to eat her up everytime I see it. I shot these images in my bedroom (the angel set) with my blue wall and homemade clouds using natural window light. And then the others in my living room with a flash/umbrella combo on a Drop it Modern backdrop, brand new, full of creases. Any one have any tips on how to get rid of those??? I tired steaming it with my iron and got nowhere…

If you’re wondering what the text said it reads (in order of appearance):

Hazel Elizabeth 100% pure sugar
Ella Noel 100% pure spice
3.5 year old 31 lbs 39.5 in
everything nice
6 months old 18 lbs 8 oz 27.5 in
that’s what little girls are made of

Today Jordan & I celebrate our fifth wedding anniversary! So I thought it would be appropriate to share our wedding album, which we opened for the first time this morning. After five years, I finally got around to designing it. If you want to check out the inside spreads, you can view a slide show of them HERE. He has a surprise weekend planned for us and I couldn’t be more excited. He’s been my best friend now for 10 years and I’ve loved him everyday of it.

[FYI: My wedding day images & bridals were shot by Steve Bair of Bair Photo.]

Hazel is now three months old and I can’t even believe how fast the time has gone by. I was really dilligent at taking Ella’s pictures every month her first year, but I decided we’d shoot for 3, 6, 9 & 12 months with Hazey. So this started as her 3-month shoot and turned into a full family album. It seems now that I have two kids I want both of their pictures taken whenever I bust out the camera. And I probably wouldn’t have pushed making an album, but I’ve had this idea to take the words from a children’s book and make them into my own book, and these images just seemed to fit so perfectly. They’re not exactly works of art, and I’m still working on the whole lighting set up thing, but I do love their simplicity. And I of course love this little book from which I took the text for these pages.